Chyanti – Film From Former Gurkha Soldier

Chyanti was shot in Mustang, Nepal in March 2016 and was inspired by true events. It is the latest short film from director Veemsen Lama, produced by Tom Cullingham and written by Sampada Malla, telling the poignant story of a little girl and her beloved family goat.

At the end of March, the highly enthusiastic film crew flew out to Nepal to work tirelessly on completing the filming of Chyanti, but shooting so high up in the Himalaya’s proved to be an almost Herculean task. The entire cast and crew faced an endless list of challenges each and every day, including a serious lack of oxygen, seemingly endless rain, no phone signal, no wifi and for much of the time, no power.

Veemsen Lama, a former Gurkha soldier turned award-winning film director, served in the British Armed forces for many years before chasing his storytelling dreams. Tom is a film producer and keen cyclist, living in London. Determined to follow in his uncle’s footsteps, Mark Cullingham, the late film & theatre director, Tom was making films from a young age before his passion for storytelling lead him to Ravensbourne Film School, London. Sampada Malla – Writer Sampada is a Nepalese media personality, writer, film maker and journalist working in Nepal and India. She serves as the Board Director and Creative Director of Sarwanam Theatre Group, the leading theatre group of Nepal. Arran Green – Director of Photography Arran has over seven years of experience in film. He has always been fascinated by the endless number of ways in which a filmmaker has control of the narrative and is particularly passionate about the visual side of the film production process.

The previous film Maya, about street children in Kathmandu, was filmed last March. It was only a matter of weeks before the devastating earthquake struck. Upon hearing the news, the filmmakers immediately cancelled their indiegogo and instead raised over $2000 for the children affected. Due to lack of funds at this point, post-production took a longer than planned, but a couple of months later Maya premiered at Raindance Film Festival. It was then nominated for Best Student Film at London short film festival, Best Drama at Screentest and won BKSTS Student Widescreen Film of The Year at Widescreen Weekend in October. More recently, Maya has been nominated for the Triton Award at Velletta Film Festival and long listed for a One World Media Award and has won Best International Short at London Independent Film Festival.

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